“Organizations fail to choose the candidate with the right talent for the manager job a whopping 82% of the time. Virtually all companies try to fix bad managers with training. Nothing fixes a bad manager.” -Jim Clifton, Gallup chairman and CEO

If you think your manager sucks, it turns out there’s a 82% chance you’re right.

This is according to a new report from Gallup that says organizations fail to choose the right person for the manager job 82% of the time.

in the report, titled State of the American Manager, Gallup – which amously found in the past that only 30% of the workforce is actually engaged at any given time – lists some dismal findings and makes suggestions for future corrections.

Gallup claims that great managers possess a “rare combination of five talents,” which they list as the abilities to motivate, assert, create a culture of accountability, build relationships, and make decisions.

This talent combo exists in only one in 10 people, says the report, while another two in 10 people have some of the five talents and can become successful managers with the right coaching.

Rather than hiring managers for their management capabilities, says Gallup, companies are hiring managers based on other factors, like success in a previous role, which might have nothing to do with overseeing a team.

“When Gallup asked U.S. managers why they believed they were hired for their current role, they commonly cited their success in a previous non-managerial role or their tenure in their company or field,” the report says.

Key findings include:

  • 18% of current managers have the high talent required of their role, while 82% do not have high talent.
    Talent is the most powerful predictor of performance. Companies that hire managers based on talent realize a 48% increase in profitability, a 22% increase in productivity, a 30% increase in employee engagement scores, a 17% increase in customer engagement scores and a 19% decrease in turnover.

  • Managers with high talent are more likely to be brand ambassadors for their organization. These managers are more proactive about encouraging their friends and family to use their company’s products and services, and they have a greater understanding of their company’s brand promise.

  • Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. Gallup’s study of employee engagement found that just 30% of U.S. workers are engaged, demonstrating a clear link between poor managing and a nation of “checked out” employees.

  • Perhaps most alarming is the estimated cost of these bad managers. Gallup estimates that managers who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged cost the U.S. economy $319 billion to $398 billion annually.

Gallup also states that half of people have left a job to get away from a manager at some point in their career.

Another noteworthy finding is that female managers are better than male managers, in that they are slightly more likely to be engaged (41% to 35%, respectively). Individuals who work for a female manager are also six percent more engaged, on average, than those who work for a male manager.